Prospect of U.S. War Against Iraq Stirs Student Activism

Not even a surprise snowstorm could stop Vermont teenager Zoe
Christiansen from rallying against a war in Iraq.

A Hadley, Mass., high
school student joins thousands to protest a possible war during a
rally held in Washington last month.
—File photo by Allison Shelley/
Education Week

Ms. Christiansen, a 9th grader at Montpelier High School, organized an
anti-war protest in her hometown, hoping to encourage more young people
to oppose a war. Three inches of snow had fallen by the time the march
in Montpelier from City Hall to the Statehouse ended, but she says the
weather didn't ruin the December event, which she estimates was
attended by 100 to 200 people of all ages.

"With this looming war in Iraq, I just got enraged about it," Ms.
Christiansen, 14, said. "I just wanted to organize something."

As the likelihood of the United States' going to war against Iraq
has increased in recent weeks, middle and high school students across
the nation have been expressing their views about such action. They are
participating in discussions on the issue and attending
rallies—activities that can pose challenges for educators,
experts say.

Secretary of State Colin L. Powell laid out the Bush
administration's case last week before the U.N. Security Council.
"Leaving Saddam Hussein in possession of weapons of mass destruction
for a few more months or years is not an option, not in a
post-September 11 world," he said.

Balance in opinion is essential for classroom discussions and school
assemblies, especially when talking about a subject as volatile as a
U.S.-led war in Iraq, said Paul D. Houston, the executive director of
the American Association of School Administrators, based in Arlington,
Va.

Public school educators should not side with one political agenda or
candidate during school hours, he cautioned.

"Obviously, these are very sensitive times. We know it's hard for
teachers to separate their personal feelings. But with these kinds of
issues, it's important they try," Mr. Houston said.

"The fundamental [goal] of education is to create people who can
think for themselves," he continued. "You want people who can look at
the facts and make a thoughtful decision."

Legally, students' political speech does have some protection in a
school environment. The 1969 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Tinker
v. Des Moines Independent Community School District upheld
students' right to wear black armbands in school to protest the United
States' involvement in Vietnam. In its decision, the court noted that
such speech was "quiet and passive."

However, students who disrupt school activities and infringe on
other students' rights are not legally protected, said Naomi Gittins, a
staff lawyer with the National School Boards Association's office of
the general counsel. Also, the more the speech occurs in a
school-sponsored arena, such as in an in-school assembly, the more
power school administrators have over it, said Ms. Gittins, whose
association is based in Alexandria, Va.

Most importantly, she said, "the students have to have notice of
what they can and can't do."

Looking for Balance

Educators at James Madison Memorial High School in Madison, Wis.,
have gotten a taste of the sensitivities involved in addressing the
issue of war. In December, several Memorial High students organized two
sessions during the school day that were scheduled to feature anti-war
speakers.

A few students and parents complained about the one-sided lineup of
speakers for the assemblies, which had been approved by the school's
principal. The district superintendent canceled the event less than a
day before it was to be held, said Pat Calchina, a social studies
teacher who helped to organize the sessions.

After negotiating with the offended students, Ms. Calchina
rescheduled the events with a more diverse array of speakers. About
1,400 of the school's 2,300 students attended.

Ms. Calchina said her students are "pretty critical and pretty
questioning" of the possibility of a war with Iraq. About 40 students
have formed a club called Peace and Action to Change Tomorrow. They
meet every week to plan times to pass out peace literature and discuss
issues such as military recruitment in schools.

Though anti-war, Memorial High sophomore Kate Schiffman acknowledged
that "we have a lot of mixed views in our school."

Students usually respect one another's opinions, but that was not
the case in December, she said. A few students tore down posters
advertising the anti-war assembly and made rude remarks about the
students who had organized it, she said.

"They really made it a battle," Ms. Schiffman, 15, said. But, she
said, "it brought a lot of attention to us."

In some districts, students have been disciplined for skipping
school to participate in anti-war activities.

In Petaluma, Calif., about 50 students from Petaluma High School
were suspended for walking out of a morning class in November to attend
a protest against a U.S. war with Iraq. And about 50 District of
Columbia high school students received after-school detention for
skipping classes on Jan. 14 to attend a daylong anti-war protest in the
nation's capital.

Some districts have tried to head off potential discipline problems
and create a forum for discussion by sponsoring their own teach-ins or
similar events.

The San Francisco school board, for example, last month authorized a
"nonbiased" day of public discussion in the 60,000-student district.
Students who feel uncomfortable participating can opt out of the
discussions, which are to be held by the end of the month.

Board members decided to support a day of discussion about a war
because students need more knowledge of current events and heightened
critical-thinking skills, said Eric Mar, one of the sponsors of the
resolution.

In the nearby Oakland school district, educators are drawing up
lesson plans to teach their 48,000 students more about the prospect of
war and the politics surrounding it.

The district faced criticism for sponsoring a teach-in at Oakland
High School last month that was dominated by anti-war speakers. School
officials said that no speakers supporting U.S. military action would
attend the event, and that one day of instruction should not deter
discussion of all viewpoints.

"Clearly if you attended the Oakland event, you might have thought
you were at an anti-war rally," said Dan Siegel, a member of the school
board. "There isn't really much to support the [Bush] administration's
decision, and in our community there aren't many people who support
it."

Walkouts Planned

Schools may see more student walkouts on Feb. 21, which is to be the
culmination of a "national week of resistance'' organized by the New
York City-based International ANSWER, or Act Now to Stop War & End
Racism. The 11-member coalition, which was formed after the terrorist
attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, includes the Muslim Student Association and
a pro-Palestinian group.

Many high school students took part in weekend protests in San
Francisco and Washington on Jan. 18 and 19, said Sarah Sloan, an
organizer for the organization's youth and student branch.

"We found incredible response from high schools," Ms. Sloan said.
"It's especially young people who I think have the most to lose [from a
war]."

Indeed, funding for education and health care were the chief
concerns of about 40 Colorado high school students who rallied on Dec.
19 outside Republican Sen. Wayne Allard's office.

"We feel like it's going to be our generation that will have to deal
with the consequences of Bush's war," said rally organizer Nick Salter,
18, a senior at Cherry Creek High School in Englewood.

Although most student activism to date has been against a war, that
sentiment is not universal.

A majority of the 28 students in the class on Middle Eastern affairs
at Gaffney High School in Gaffney, S.C., for example, are in favor of
military action against Iraq, said Billy Pennington, who teaches the
class. Mr. Pennington is also the adviser for the Teenage Republicans,
a 50-member club with a pro-war stance, he said.

While implementing a military draft, which has been suggested by
U.S. Rep. Charles B. Rangel, D-N.Y., and others, doesn't appeal to all
of Mr. Pennington's students, he said most seem to be willing to serve.
"They, for the most part, tend to be supportive of President Bush and
what he wants to do," Mr. Pennington said of his students. "I have a
lot who want to join the military."

Vol. 22, Issue 22, Pages 6-7

Published in Print: February 12, 2003, as Prospect of U.S. War Against Iraq Stirs Student Activism

Some students from the James Madison Memorial High School in Madison,
Wisc., have formed the club Peace and Action to Change Tomorrow, which
is part of a coalition making up the Madison Area Peace Coalition.
Students in the PACT group meet every week to pass out peace literature
and discuss issues.

From the U.K.'s The Guardian,
the story "Kids
Army," Jan. 21, 2003, reports on the Catterick garrison school,
Europe's largest military camp in the hills of North Yorkshire,
England, where ninety percent of the pupils have parents in the
military and are directly affected by the threatened war in Iraq.

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